Marshawn Lynch turns 32 next month – probably the league’s oldest starting running back in 2018. Matt Forte just retired, and I don’t think anybody will want Frank Gore or Adrian Peterson to be a starter. Does Beast Mode have anything left?
League rules prevent Jon Gruden from having much contact with any of his players for now, but he says he likes what he saw from Lynch late last year. “Looking at our film and the game that I broadcast on Christmas night (at Philadelphia), there’s no question he’s still the Beast; that’s hard to bring down,” Gruden says. “We’ll see what happens. Obviously, we’ve got to take a look at our entire roster. But I’m counting on him. I’m counting on him being a big part of our football team.”
I was just playing around with some of the stats (which is what I spend most of my time doing at this time of the year – trying to look at them every way I can). I was surprised to see that in the second half of last year, Lynch ran for the most yards in the league. He tied with Dion Lewis (who’s a free agent), with both of them running for 625.
Both of Lynch’s 100-yard games came in the second half of the season, against the Giants and Chargers. He ran for 95 yards at Philadelphia, and ran for 57-76 yards in each of his other five games.
Numbers are below. The season is 17 weeks old, so I’m considering the second half to be the final eight games for each team. The AFC West is well represented, with all four teams putting a runner in the top 12. (All four of those backs were among the backs who played all eight games). Latavius Murray comes in at No. 4, and he’s only a year removed from that division.
| RUSHING, SECOND HALF OF LAST YEAR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Run | Avg | TD |
| Marshawn Lynch, Oak. | 135 | 625 | 4.6 | 5 |
| Dion Lewis, N.E. | 122 | 625 | 5.1 | 8 |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 118 | 619 | 5.2 | 9 |
| Latavius Murray, Minn. | 138 | 593 | 4.3 | 7 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 138 | 592 | 4.3 | 5 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 107 | 583 | 5.4 | 8 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 153 | 579 | 3.8 | 4 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 126 | 564 | 4.5 | 5 |
| Frank Gore, Ind. | 151 | 557 | 3.7 | 2 |
| Kenyan Drake, Mia. | 114 | 550 | 4.8 | 4 |
| LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 127 | 531 | 4.2 | 6 |
| C.J. Anderson, Den. | 129 | 525 | 4.1 | 2 |
| Jamaal Williams, G.B. | 142 | 522 | 3.7 | 5 |
| Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 104 | 502 | 4.8 | 1 |
| Alex Collins, Balt. | 132 | 495 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 128 | 485 | 3.8 | 4 |
| Jordan Howard, Chi. | 114 | 460 | 4.0 | 5 |
| Bilal Powell, NYJ | 104 | 456 | 4.4 | 3 |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 138 | 444 | 3.2 | 3 |
| Samaje Perine, Wash. | 118 | 428 | 3.6 | 1 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 68 | 417 | 6.1 | 9 |
| Jay Ajayi, Phil. | 70 | 408 | 5.8 | 2 |
| Orleans Darkwa, NYG | 104 | 406 | 3.9 | 4 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 109 | 405 | 3.7 | 2 |
Lynch wasn’t as compelling in the first half of last year, when he got fewer carries and wasn’t as effective. He was tossed out of the Kansas City game, causing him to miss the Buffalo game, and he for more than 45 yards in only two of his other six games.
| RUSHING, FIRST HALF OF LAST YEAR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Run | Avg | TD |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 191 | 783 | 4.1 | 9 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 146 | 763 | 5.2 | 6 |
| LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 194 | 760 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 161 | 686 | 4.3 | 10 |
| Jordan Howard, Chi. | 162 | 662 | 4.1 | 4 |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 130 | 596 | 4.6 | 7 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 149 | 546 | 3.7 | 3 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 123 | 541 | 4.4 | 4 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 131 | 526 | 4.0 | 8 |
| Devonta Freeman, Atl. | 114 | 512 | 4.5 | 5 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 129 | 483 | 3.7 | 4 |
| C.J. Anderson, Den. | 116 | 482 | 4.2 | 2 |
| Alex Collins, Balt. | 80 | 478 | 6.0 | 0 |
| LeGarrette Blount, Phil. | 100 | 467 | 4.7 | 3 |
| Jay Ajayi, Mia. | 138 | 465 | 3.4 | 0 |
| Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 112 | 453 | 4.0 | 4 |
| Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 122 | 417 | 3.4 | 2 |
| Frank Gore, Ind. | 110 | 404 | 3.7 | 2 |
| DeMarco Murray, Tenn. | 95 | 391 | 4.1 | 2 |
| Derrick Henry, Tenn. | 83 | 357 | 4.3 | 3 |
| Javorius Allen, Balt. | 99 | 356 | 3.6 | 2 |
| Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 102 | 351 | 3.4 | 1 |
| Orleans Darkwa, NYG | 67 | 345 | 5.1 | 1 |
| Jonathan Stewart, Car. | 110 | 329 | 3.0 | 2 |
| Bilal Powell, NYJ | 74 | 316 | 4.3 | 2 |
| Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 63 | 316 | 5.0 | 3 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 52 | 311 | 6.0 | 5 |
| Jerick McKinnon, Minn. | 69 | 287 | 4.2 | 4 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 98 | 284 | 2.9 | 2 |
| Dion Lewis, N.E. | 58 | 271 | 4.7 | 2 |
| Marshawn Lynch, Oak. | 72 | 266 | 3.7 | 2 |
| Chris Thompson, Wash. | 51 | 251 | 4.9 | 5 |
—Ian Allan